Holy Buckets, this is a boring offseason, when the big news is who the coaching staff is. Not dissing them, but I would much rather talk about PLAYERS…

So it looks like Dave Wallace will not be back as the Red Sox pitching coach, despite having a good relationship with Bobby Valentine. While it’s not official yet, the Sox will more than likely be naming formed KC Royals pitching coach Bob McClure as the man who will reign in what could be on of the best staffs in baseball. Peter Gammon opined on Twitter that McClure was the “right person and teacher” for the Sox. Let’s hope he is right. Because a former pitching coach for Kansas City doesn’t impress me a ton…

In addition, former 3rd base coach Tim Bogar will be promoted to Bench coach, with Jerry Royster coach the hot corner…Look for the announcements to be made before the holiday…And with these announcements, all the Sox need are a 1st base coach, and the staff is complete…

Apparently, Roy Oswalt would be open to a 1-year deal, giving him a chance to improve his numbers, and then try free agency next year. He was limited to 23 starts with the Phillies in 2011 because of back woes, and had a losing record of 9-10 with a 3.69. I have always liked Oswalt, and I think if he could stay healthy, he can been the very good pitcher he was with the Astros. And a 159-93 career record is nothing to shake a stick at–and he is only 34…

Baseball American announced their Top 10 Prospects in the Red Sox Organization–and its interesting to note that shortstop phenom Jose Iglesias is not on the list. Familiar names include #1 Will Middlebrooks, heir apparent to Kevin Youkilis at 3rd, and Catcher Ryan Lavarnway, who #9 on the chart…

#2 on Baseball America’s list also makes it onto another prospect list. Fellow BBA-er, Wally from Seedlings to the Stars sent along their profile on Red Sox prospect Xander Bogaerts who came in at #18 yesterday on S2S’s Top-100 countdown for 2012. A shortstop with Single A Greenville, the 18 year old fared very well in his 1st year in professional baseball, even bettering phenom Bryce Harper’s ISO in the minors…You can also check out the whole list here…

Finally, on January 14th, another BBA Blog, Old Time Family Baseball, will hold a charity blogathon, where founder Michael Clair will be posting a fresh new post every half hour for 24 hours to support Doctor’s Without Borders, the organization that works to bring medical and humanitarian aid to areas of need all over the world. And then the next day, Michael has invited his fellow sports bloggers to join in for another 24 hours of posts for the charity. If your interested, you can send him an e-mail to oldtimefamilybaseball@gmail.com with Blogathon in the title and go from there.

Not a blogger, but interested in donating to this very worthwhile cause? You can donate here….

Coming up: 3 Days to Christmas–and I don’t expect anything earth shattering to happen between now and then. Hell, I dont really expect anything earth shattering this whole offseason for the Red Sox…